Case Number 13587

GRIZZLY TALES: A TANGLED WEB

The Charge

"You are welcome to Grizzly Tales for gruesome kids..."

Opening Statement

"...A series of cautionary tales for lovers of screams!"

Facts of the Case

Based on the series of books of the same name by Jamie Rix, Grizzly
Tales offers a series of cautionary tales for kids, infused with a nice line
in comedy-horror. Narrated by Nigel Planner, the show spawned six series in
total and was one of the highest rated shows for the ITV channel and won
numerous awards.

Grizzly Tales: A Tangled Web contains the following seven
episodes:

* "The New Nanny" Having tortured numerous nannies, spoilt
brats Tristram and Candy are taught a lesson they'll never forget by the Animal
Magic Nanny Agency.

* "The Spaghetti Man" A cautionary tale for kids who won't
eat their food; Timothy is repeatedly warned that failure to eat his dinner will
result in the Spaghetti Man coming for him and turning him into pasta.

* "Grandmother's Footsteps" In an attempt to calm her
grandson, who is convinced a ghost is trying to get into his bedroom, a
grandmother tells him a story, but reveals a startling truth.

* "Death By Chocolate" A chocoholic goes through a startling
transformation.

* "Wooden Hill" Jack is too scared of the dark to fetch his
favourite book from upstairs, when he finally does attempt it he suffers a
terrifying ordeal.

* "A Tangled Web" Baby spiders come back to haunt the kid
who killed their mother.

* "The Princess's Clothes" Princess Felicity is the envy of
all, with her wonderful clothes...that is until Miss Shears comes along.

The Evidence

If you were to imagine a version of Tales from the Crypt for kids, you
might come fairly close to Grizzly Tales; a show that takes the annoying
moral lessons that were often tagged onto shows like Masters of the
Universe, and makes an entire series of them but injects plenty of
humour.

Introduced by Uncle Grizzly (Nigel Planner, The Young Ones), along
with his pet spider Spindleshanks, each episode begins with a visit to Uncle
Grizzly's cinema; the Scream Screen. Presented in claymation, these sequences
act as bookends to each tale and help set the tone for what is to come. The
tales themselves adopt an animated style that's not a million miles away from
the illustrations of Quentin Blake, famous for his work with Roald Dahl,
simplistic, yet perfectly suited to the subject material.

As for the stories themselves, they're an entertaining blend of horror and
comedy that teach kids important lessons without going down the same route taken
by shows like Lazy Town and Bear in the Big Blue House. Rather
than having each tale end with the child in question having learnt their lesson
and go on to lead a happy life, the kids here are often beyond redemption and
frequently come to a sticky end. From mutating into fly's and being swatted by
their siblings, to being turned into lasagne sheets; there's a delightfully
diabolical nature to the series that sees it standout from the crowd.

Perhaps best demonstrating the darker nature of these tales is the story
"A Tangled Web." Dealing with a child who delights in killing spiders,
the yarn sees him visited by the ghosts of the unborn spiders whose mother he
had recently killed, who then exact a terrible revenge on him. The episode also
displays the shows skill for crafting tales that see scares seamlessly blended
with laughs, ensuring that, even when dealing with the more sinister moments,
the show never becomes too much for the youngsters watching.

Grizzly Tales real trump card, however, is clearly Planner's
narration. Whether it be raising the tension or lightening the mood with a joke,
his delivery is note perfect and is as likely to raise a smile from watching
adults, as it is the kids. Voicing every character obviously holds no problems
for Planner either, indeed, his work as Timothy, the child who won't eat, in the
episode "The Spaghetti Man" is a particularly winning turn, offering a
perfect representation of a spoiled brat, complete with yells of "It's not
breakfast, it's a cow pat!"

The discs 1.33:1 transfer is a perfect reproduction of how the show looked
on TV, in other words, it does the job with no frills. The audio is a similar
story.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

Sadly Porchlight Entertainment has put out a barebones disc for this release
of Grizzly Tales. At a mere 77 minutes long, you do have to question
whether that represents real value for money. The show itself is a lot of fun
and easily earns itself a recommendation, it's just a shame the disc lets it
down.

Closing Statement

Not afraid of cutting against the grain, Grizzly Tales: A Tangled Web
offers a refreshing antidote to the sickly-sweet moral tales so often associated
with children's TV and is all the better for it.